Gracelyn: 11 Month Update

I had a small "moment" the other day when I realized that Gracelyn will be a year old next month. She's still my tiny tot! How can she be a year old already!?

Sleeping: Towards the end of October I decided that I was tired of doing a 10:30 PM feeding so I stopped. I knew you weren't nursing much at that time, that it was just more of a habit then anything so I decided to end it. For a couple of days you would wake up at some un-Godly hour, but that has evened out and "typically" you will sleep until 7 AM without problem. Thank you. That's all I can say. We're continuing with two naps - morning nap around 9:30 and an afternoon nap around 1:30/2:00. The afternoon nap is what I like to refer to as #naptimehustle. You've never seen me in such a flurry of activity. Because I know once you wake up, everyone is *mildly* spastic until suppertime and dad gets home.

Eating: We are progressing to bits and pieces of everything. It appears that you love saltier foods, which I find odd. Just today you had part of a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. You ate it like a champ! But when you are done, you are DONE. You drop pieces off the side of your chair like they don't exist and like no one will notice if they're out of sight. But you are doing a better job of feeding yourself and that's great. We'll do a breakfast of something easy (graham crackers, etc) and a lunch of whatever leftover we're dining on. You seem to LOVE scrambled eggs and weird stuff like meatballs. It's very odd. But you'll eat anything off a spoon that's been pureed. You get prunes every other day and that's seemed to ease our poop disfunction.

Wearing: 9 month clothing. I pulled out all this winter 12 month clothing the other day and I have no idea if you'll actually wear it. At 10 months old you wore the same Halloween costume that Lucan wore at 4 months. That's a comparison! Socks continue to be your nemesis. And my nemesis for that matter too. You always are pulling off your socks and crawling around the house with one sock on. As a result, I have sixteen single socks. No pairs. You are starting to pull on your headbands a bit more too. But because you don't have enough hair for people to automatically assume "female" and because I don't dress you solely in pink, headbands are good when we're out in public.

Playtime: Playing with electrical outlets. You are obsessed. This month you also developed your need for a lovey, which is the brown tag blanket I made for Lucan. You have your favorite ribbons and your fingers will follow all around the edge of the blanket until you find the one you love best. You also enjoy taking things out of containers (ie: Lucan's Halloween pumpkin with the candy or his tool box). I enjoy putting all the toys back in their respective containers. NOT.

Milestones:

Social: Your voice is growing louder and more active. When you want something and are not getting it or if you think you are being ignored, you lift your voice to be heard. You are interested in the world around you and will investigate your limits if we aren't paying attention.

Teeth: your first tooth on the top is coming in! You have 2.5 teeth and are drooling like crazy. You have another half tooth starting on the top.

Physical: crawling really well with a little butt wiggle. You also pull yourself up to your knees to see what's going on around you. You did start to feed yourself, but with that also comes with increased food pickiness which is not cool. You enjoy dumping over the cat's water dish, much the same as Lucan. It's the cleanest spot in our whole house.

Nicknames: Gracie Boo. In honor of Halloween :)

Grr.... I'm going to get you!

Sometimes being the little sister is hard. 

My baby pumpkin and Spidey!

Gracelyn: 10 Month Update

As Dr. Gina pointed out, I'm behind in my updates. So as a nod to accountability, here goes Gracie's 10 month update (note: Gracie was 10 months old as of Oct 1).

10 months is a good age. Gracie is mobile as she's now crawling forwards and backwards. I'm not sure if there's anything cuter than seeing a wee one wiggle her little butt as she's crawling happily towards you. It's just really precious to see someone so happy to see you - happy enough to get where they are going on their own accord!

Sleeping: Same as 9 months - two naps and to bed around 7:30 PM every night. If we push it much past 8ish, it can be dicey. Lance hates that you are a belly sleeper. Ever since you learned to roll-over, it's been belly sleeping all the way. Halo's mantra of "back is best" is clearly not being observed in our household. Your bedtime ritual is thumb in mouth and clinging onto the ribbon blanket I once upon a time sewed for Lucan. He never took to it, so it's yours! Now that you aren't at daycare your naps are sooo much better. You are never going to be a rockstar napper like your brother, but since you were once only napping a total of 45 minutes total, I'll take it. You will even go down for a nap in the pack and plays at church nursery which is awesome-sauce. Your morning awake time varies from day to day - sometimes 6 AM (yuck) and sometimes as late at 8 AM. 

Eating: Sometimes I try and give you chunkier food then you prefer. And you let me know that you aren't a fan by fake coughing and choking. You are getting marginally better at feeding yourself. Marginally. You will occasionally stuff a puff in your mouth. I tried to feed you a dried apple. You choked and sputtered all over with that one. Still nursing, but that's dialing down. If I can figure out how to get you to take a sippy cup, we'll wean around one year. You eat just about anything pureed - applesauce, pears, peaches, prunes, carrots, peas, beans, squash, sweet potatoes, yogurt, bananas, smashed avocado. I gave you sliced strawberries. You must have thought they were poison so Lu ate them. 

Wearing: 9 month clothing and some 6 month stuff still. At some point I thought that it would a super idea to buy 4000 size two diapers on sale. You could probably be sized up to size three diapers, but because we have an entire box and one sleeve left of size two diapers we'll be stuffing you into them until the end. It's a rookie mistake and I should know better. 

Playtime: there aren't many toys in the house that weren't first Lucan's. But at your age, no one really cares about what "toys" really constitute. You spend a lot of time taking some brightly painted wooden numbers that belong to a Melissa and Doug clock in and out of a christmas tin. You also like to knock down Lucan's legos, magnatiles and blocks which really irritates him. Shredding paper is fun too so we have to be careful about what's left on the floor otherwise one of Lu's treasures gets destroyed.

Milestones: 
Teeth: two on the bottom! This was a big deal. You are a pretty good teether, so I have nothing to complain about. 

Social: So serious. You are watchful and take everything in when we are out and about. Your family is your favorite. If I have to leave you are okay with dad, but if both of us are gone you get sad for a moment or two. If I leave the room or walk by you without picking you up, you whine until I do pick you up. It makes getting supper made really challenging. 

Physical: crawling like a champ. You like to touch things and really examine them. Especially my jewelry. You are pretty quiet overall, but you do a thing we all refer to as "the Gracie Growler" where you have this guttural sound you make which is pretty funny coming out a petite thing like you. You move things from hand to hand and are able to do pincher fingers to pick something up. But still not feeding yourself. You expect someone to put the food in your mouth for you. 

Nicknames: Gracie, Gracie Beth, Gracie Lu, Gracie Girl. A gal that I met from Louisiana commented that Gracie Beth is a very southern name. I like it. I think being southern is the equivalent to being a lady :)

The serious face.

Lucan doesn't get monthly updates so he doesn't really understand why I'm not taking pictures of him. I let him get in on the action at the end. It was homecoming and superhero day, hence the outfit and mask. 

Dressed in her ISU gear for the game against Iowa. ISU lost. There's always next year. 

Dressed in brother's hand me down jammies and playing with his dump truck.

A chinful of drool due to teething. 

It's not often she falls asleep on one of us, so we take the snuggles when we can get them.

Molly's babe, Hannah. Isn't she a cutie?

This is Lance's cousin Sarah. I think that Gracie was confused by the woman who looked sort of like her mom, but was clearly not her MOM. 

Gracelyn: 9 Month Update

A cuter baby never lived - said every mom. I know I felt the same way about Lucan, but I really do believe that my kids are exceptionally cute. Of course, I'm exceptionally biased. I know that if I only comment about how adorable Gracie is, I'll give her some sort of feminist complex about a woman's value only being in her appearance, but for now I'm going to go with it. My baby is adorable. 

Sleeping: Two naps and to bed around 7:30 PM every night. Naps can be a little sketchy, especially the morning nap because I try not to let our lives be dictated around nap schedules. Because we have a set "routine" on preschool mornings (Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri), I have to make sure that you sweet sister are up by 7:40ish to nurse and be out the door no later than 7:58 AM. As a result, most mornings you are ready for a nap by 9:30ish. This translates to a couple of errands in the morning before a quick nap, another nursing session and then back in the car to pick up Lu from preschool. Afternoon nap tends to be a bit longer, which is great because it ensures me some time to get a few things done while I pray for the golden unicorn - "two kids napping at the same time."

Eating: I'm still getting you up around 10:30PM to nurse once more even though month after month I say that I'm going to stop. Each grandma asks about that too. I know. But it's hard to feel like I should drop a nursing session when you are such a tiny peanut still!
We nurse around 5 times a day. Solid food is your friend. At 8 months we implemented a schedule of prunes every other day and it has greatly improved your digestive system. We typically feed you 6 ounces of food at lunch and anywhere between 6-8 ounces for supper again. I've done a mix of store bought food and homemade baby food, really whatever I have time for.
You aren't interested in feeding yourself. Period. I'm sure that some would say you are "lazy" but I'm just going to accept it and be fine. You'll feed yourself at some point. There is no baby-led weaning in this house.

Wearing: 9 month clothing and some 6 month stuff still. Baby girl has short legs so they don't seem to be outgrowing pants all the fast.

Milestones: No 9 month shots! Wohoo! But you do babble and you are starting to pivot, roll and do what we affectionately call the "butt wiggle." The butt wiggle entails you getting up on all fours and trying to unsuccessfully crawl. People ask me if you are starting to walk and I very promptly tell them NO! You are barely crawling. You also scoot - but only backwards. If that counts, then yes, you are crawling. When I change your diaper, you delight in being diaperless. You throw your legs into the air and kick, kick, kick. Lucan spazs out when you roll around on your changing pad and he thinks you are going to fall off. Thumb sucking seems to be dissipating a bit. I like to think it's because I'm there for you and as a result, you don't have to self-soothe as much because you aren't at daycare. This could be wishful thinking, but I'm going with it. You very much love your tag blanket I made for Lu - it's your lovie.

Social: Some mom anxiety. I've started dropping you off at the nursery for Bible Study and surprisingly, you do very well. You spend a lot of time looking at the other babies and being very watchful and observant. I just think that might be your personality. You are quite ticklish so if someone does fish nibbles on your back or anywhere really, you giggle madly. Baby giggles are simply the best. They really are.

Physical: Your peach-fuzz hair is growing longer. Not really thicker, I'm being truthful with myself, but definitely longer. I can really tell this around your ears after I've taken one of your headbands off. It's all flat and wonky.
No teeth.

Height: 2 ft, 2.25 inches (6th% percentile)
Weight: 16 lb, 1 oz. (14th% percentile)
Head: 44 cm (51st% percentile)

Fascinated by her Bannor Toys Tree Rattle. 

Standard solemn expression.

Little smiles :)

8 Month Update - Gracelyn

Eight months old means you are right in the midst of my favorite age - you have (somewhat) of a schedule and you are sleeping more but you don't move much and aren't too vocal about your opinions of life :) I'm savoring it here folks!

Sleeping.  We are still doing a dream feed around 10:30 or so and then you'll sleep through the night until 7 AM or so. We've got to cut this dream feed out, but kay-sa-rah-sa-rah. August was my first full month of being home so we worked on improving naps. At daycare you were napping a total of like an hour a day, which is completely unacceptable for this mom who works from home and depends on a little quiet time each day to get things done! We're slowly improving but it's taking time. We try and squeeze in a morning nap if we aren't out and about and then an afternoon nap around the same time as Lu. The "both kids napping" is like the mythical unicorn. You know it's out there, but it's almost impossible to find. There were several times we'd be coming home from a busy morning out and Gracie would fall asleep in the car for 10 minutes and then refuse to nap at home. Life was NOT okay. We're averaging about 2 -3 hours of naps a day. Sister does not nap like her brother who still will pass out for 2 hours in the afternoon. Someone missed the sleep memo. 

Eating. Little Miss is eating solid foods at lunch and at supper. She really likes her purees and will pretend to cough and choke on the foods that she doesn't. Such a faker. I'm nursing her about 4-5 times a day. 

Wearing. Upgraded to some 6-9 month clothing. It's about time. Sister has some cute thigh rolls. Thigh rolls are only acceptable at this age. Not adult age.

Milestones. Language: You like to chat and let us know when things are not all right with the world. For example, you seriously lift your voice when you've decided nap time is over. I try and let you sit a bit in your crib to ensure that nap time is indeed over (very wishful thinking) but you start hollering like 50 seconds after nap is done. So much so that I have to run into your room for fear that you're going to wake Lu up. It's a good thing he sleeps well because YOU are a sleep goddess. You like to say "da da da da." Where's "ma ma ma ma" ? Lots of bubble blowing.

Social: I'm your favorite. I'm just going to say it. Lance always says you perk up and start to look around when you hear my voice but don't see my face. You get a lot kisses from everyone because of those big brown eyes. When we went to the State Fair people exclaimed over you a lot. Not that I blame them, I would too. 

Physical: rolling like a homie. Getting up on all fours and doing a lot of butt wiggles. No forwards crawling, but pivoting and getting stuck in corners. Soon enough. You are kind of a wuss. If you even slightly get bumped on something, you wail. 

No teeth. 

Lots of jumping in the bouncer. She is LOUD and loves it.

Sis is still lacking in the hair department. Her baby fuzz is growing out, slowly but surely. She's rockin the headbands though!

Sleeping ballerina.

Serious face.

A little teeny tiny grin :)

8 Months on August 1, 2015!

Ways I've Ruined my Children

Everyday I think that I’ve ruined my child.

I don’t think there is any job that comes with more self-doubt or criticism then being a mom. With the exception of being the POTUS (President of the United States – Lance asked me what that meant so it occurred to me that it’s not just a standard acronym that everyone knows) or some other world leader, I don’t think there is a job that has more of a personal stake.

Today’s self-doubt? My oldest is four and has yet to participate in any organized sport or some sort of musical endeavor. I have friends whose children have been dribbling soccer balls as long as they have been walking. Clearly my child will suffer the social repercussions of not participating in a group sport at the age of four.

I am not doing baby-led weaning in any form. I make purees for my little and thought I was finally doing something right because I was making food for her. Now I’m fairly convinced that she’ll never feed herself or eat “real” food.

We don’t always brush my eldest’s teeth in the morning. I just don’t have the time. Yes, I know.

He also knows the order of the PBS kid show lineup.

Just the other day he asked me when he is going to get to take swim lessons. Crap.

I can’t bear to her my daughter cry, so every time she cries, I pick her up. Yep, I’ve ruined her.

Lucan told me last time at Chick-fil-A that we eat there a lot. To his point, we did eat there twice that week.

He also told me tonight that “supper smelled funky.” To his point, yes, fish sauce does smell a bit. He also likes my MIL’s cooking better than my own. This is probably due to the fact that she doesn’t hide zucchini in her spaghetti sauce.

I fall more on the path of helicopter parent than free-range parent. If you read enough articles, helicopter parenting with MOST DEFINITELY ruin a child. Looking at who I am with baby #2, I acknowledge that I’m definitely more relaxed this time around but by no means am I a chill mom. Yes, I worry that my hovering will ruin both of them but it outweighs my fear of them being taken out of my backyard while I’m not watching.

My point is that motherhood is hard. There’s no instruction manual. There are more moments I care to admit that I have no idea what I’m doing and I’m second guessing myself. The only thing I can do is follow my instincts and ask everyday for God to cover all the mistakes I’m making with His grace.

Gracelyn: Seven Months

Seven months old means we’ve officially passed the scary six month SIDs mark. Yes, that doesn’t mean I’m letting you sleep on your stomach with a blanket over your face but there’s overall less paranoia.

Sleeping.  All wise parents will tell you that it’s going to better for everyone if you phase out sleep props sooner rather than later. Yes, I know. I KNOW. It’s my second child and I should know better, but Gracelyn is still sleeping in the rock and play. She sleeps better and longer and I’m just not willing to deal with 4 am if I don’t have to. For example, I made the adult decision to put her to bed in her crib last night. She woke up at 5:45 AM. Lance ran into her room and put her in her rock and play and she went back to sleep. We have her nap in her crib but we’re still putting her down at the night in the rock and play. I know. Please stop shaking your head at me. 

I’ve been nursing her before bedtime and then putting her down awake around 7:30 PM. Around this age we phased out Lu’s dream feed but I don’t think little miss is ready. I’m ready to be done with going to bed after 11:15 pm every night, but these are the sacrifices we make! Getting Gracie to finally accept and eat solids has been the key to her sleeping at night.

Eating. We are still sending three, three ounce bottles to daycare. Solid food is going much better this past month. Here are the things in your present diet: pears, applesauce, avocado, bananas, oatmeal, blueberries, yogurt, peas, roasted carrots, and squash. I tried, unsuccessfully, to get you to eat fried rice. You’re Asian! You should love rice! Lance predicted that it wouldn’t go well. We are just doing an evening meal but I’m sure enough we’ll introduce lunch too. Add on another 30 minutes to mealtimes. 

Wearing. 3-6 month clothes. My darling peanut, you have the most adorable chunky baby legs that appear to just be growing sideways and not longer. 

Milestones. Language: you are getting more generous with your smiles and your laughs. Big brother is still the funniest person in the household. You also appear to have found your voice. Sometimes when you nurse you make the oddest grunting noises. You have to lift your voice to be heard over that brother of yours. I don't blame you, I have to lift my voice too!
Social: Selfishly, I think I'm still your favorite. I'm not discouraging it. Object permanence seems to becoming a thing. I used to be able to hand you off with no repercussions but you will occasionally get sad when you don't recognize a mommy or daddy face. You get a lot kisses from everyone. We love your squishy face.

Physical: after much time spent hanging out on your side, you finally rolled over. Both ways! One day it just happened. You had been laying on the floor and then I heard you squawking and lo and behold, you were on your belly! Since then we have to pay attention to make sure you don't roll off of things - case in point, you rolled off the couch under daddy's watch. You love to throw your legs against the changing pad - just like Lu.

Your thumb is your source of comfort. I get mixed reactions from people about it but I'm not going to sweat it. If it makes you happy, great. You don't have much hair yet. At this point Lu had already had two haircuts, so I'm not sure why God does this to little girls and boys. 

The real reason I’m late.

Lance would tell you the reason I’m late everywhere is because I’m not a morning person and I hate getting out of bed (but seriously, if you had to be up every morning at 6:10 AM after going to bed every night at 11:20 PM and getting up once a night with a crying baby, you’d have problems getting out of bed too). Have you tried to get out the door in the morning and have two children (and one husband) who are properly dressed, bedecked with the correct shoes for today’s activities as well as get yourself out the door properly addressed for the day too? It’s a logistical nightmare. He might also tell you that I’m always just trying to squeeze.just.one.more thing.in. Which is also true but not the real reason I’m late to almost everything.

The real reason I’m late is because I’m too busy savoring the last moments of my morning with my sweet baby. I’m soaking in her precious fuzzy head that feels like spun cotton. I’m breathing in her ever-fleeting sweetness. I’m feeling her warm cheek against my cool one. I’m delighting in my last moments with her before we both rush into the wide wide world. My head is telling me to put her down, place her in her car seat because I’ve still got twenty more minutes of stuff to do and about ten actual minutes to do it all. But my heart? My heart says, “breathe it in, soak it up. These days are brief.”

So yes, I might be late yet again because I couldn’t find the shoes I wanted to wear or somehow my phone ended up in the fridge (this happens more often I should really admit) but the real reason? I was holding on tightly to my daughter’s babyhood.
 

Gracelyn - 5 month update

Month 5

Little one, we love you. Gracie, you got your first cold and it made everyone pretty sad. You coughed directly in my mouth and gave me your cold. I, in turn, shared it with your dad. My cold, compounded with the sleep deprivation and running on fumes most days, progressed into a sinus infection and landed me on antibiotics and at home sick napping a total of six hours that day. I know that colds are a fact of life for wee ones, but we don’t like them. 

Sleeping. Your brother ruined us for sleep. Really, he did. About half the time you get up once a night. We take turns getting up and feeding you. I know this is pretty normal behavior, but we just weren’t expecting this. I thought that you might be going through a growth spurt and were just extra hungry, but I’m just not sure. The weekends you nap really well, so we appreciate that.  

Eating. During two weeks of you consistently getting up once a night, we decided to send three, three ounce bottles to daycare instead of two. Daycare feedings are as follows: 9:30, 1:30 and 3:30.

Wearing. 0-3 month clothing and a couple of 3-6 month outfits. Your first Easter dress was 3-6 months and fit perfectly. You still wear size 1 diapers and I hope that continues for a little while longer because I accidently forgot to cancel the amazon subscription for size 1’s.

Milestones. Social: you like to watch everything going on. You are happy to sit in your bouncy seat or your bumbo and watch what’s going on. 

Physical: you discovered your hands this month. They are so fascinating! You are drooling a ton. I’m not ready for teeth; Lu didn’t start until seven months. Yep, teething this early is not an option. You are getting closer to rolling over, but that pesky shoulder keeps getting in the way. At your four month appointment (which was really more like 4 months and 3 weeks) you weighed 12 pounds, 10 ounces which is in the 9^th percentile for weight. You are 23.5 inches long and that’s in the 5^th percentile for length. Your head circumference is 41.25 cm and the 52^nd percentile for head circumference. Sister, you are petite.  

Language: laughter! Lucan and I were on the deck one night blowing and chasing bubbles with you overlooking the silliness. All of the sudden you shared some chuckles and laughed delightedly at your brother’s antics. Everyone’s day was a little brighter because of it! 

Gracelyn - 4 month update

Month 4

We survived the month of March. And by survived, I truly mean survived. The second week of daycare and my being back to work, you decided that 3 and 4 am were prime times to party. Life was rough but we survived. We’re all a little sleep deprived.

Sleeping. You are a good sleeper. One long morning nap and a pretty solid night of sleep. No one is complaining here. You sleep pretty well during the day and early afternoon. When daddy and brother get home, you want in on the action and playtime. I don’t blame you, besides it’s really hard to sleep through all that noise! You continue to sleep in your rock and play sleeper, but we’ve started doing a few naps here and there in your crib. Everything at this age is a transition. 

Eating. We went through a time of really being worried about your extreme dislike of bottles. I would jokingly tell everyone that I wasn’t going to be able to go back to work because you wouldn’t take a bottle. But we really hunkered down on those last two weeks before the end of my maternity leave and got that straightened out. We’re on a 3.5 to 4 hour rotation. In the morning hours you’ll go longer because of your nap. Mom’s not complaining, she likes her nap too.

Wearing. 0-3 month clothing. You are getting a little longer and filling out a bit. Sadly, you are just a shorty like your mama. There’s nothing wrong with being the shortest person in the pictures, someone has to!

Milestones. Social: smiling at brother and lots of morning smiles. Such a sweet baby girl! You like to rub your hands in your eyes.

Language: You coo a bit. We all take turns trying to make you smile because your smile is so delightful! 

Daycare. All of the daycare ladies think you are such a good girl and super adorable. And it’s true, you are both. But goodness gracious, by the time you get home at the end of the day you are spent. You don’t nap much there, I’m not sure if it’s the loudness, not being swaddled, sleeping in a crib or the temperature there. It’s probably all of those things. You’re lucky to get a couple of hours’ worth of sleep during the day. I get the feeling you sit a lot of the time in a bumbo because you have great head control and just simply like to look all around. We do two bottles – one at 9:30 and the other around 1:30. Then I feed you immediately when we get home. My overprotective nature doesn’t particularly like daycare, but I try not to over think things and take it for what it’s worth!

Photo assistant Lucan.

Special helper. Who tried to pop her head off like a dandelion.